Kashif Parvaiz with his attorney, John Latoracca, in Superior Court in Morristown in March.Robert Sciarrino/ The Star-Ledger

MORRISTOWN — Kashif Parvaiz, accused of paying a Massachusetts woman to shoot his wife to death on a Boonton street in August 2011, had allegedly talked to the woman’s sister about poisoning his wife or having her detained in Pakistan.

Sandra Stephen, 27, of Billerica, Mass., whose sister, Antionette, 29, of Billerica, has pleaded guilty to murdering Parvaiz’s wife, testified today that while she was in India in the spring of 2011, Parvaiz contacted her and asked if she could obtain a poison that could be used on his wife, Nazish Noorani, 27.

Parvaiz, of Brooklyn, got in touch with her via a private message on Facebook and “requested” that she “look for a substance that could be injected into a person and go into the heart,” Stephen testified, noting the substance was to be used on his wife. Stephen said she made no attempt to acquire the poison.

Sandra Stephen said Parvaiz had also discussed the possibility of visiting Pakistan with his wife and their two children and then “he would find some way of illegally detaining her in Pakistan” while he returned to the U.S. with the children.

Parvaiz, 28, who was born in Brooklyn, told her that he was a U.S. citizen, but his wife, who emigrated from Pakistan with her parents, was a “green card holder,” Stephen testified.

Parvaiz, of Brooklyn, is accused of murder for allegedly conspiring with Antionette Stephen, who admitted shooting Noorani to death and wounding Parvaiz in what he initially described a bias attack, according to authorities. The couple was in Boonton visiting Noorani’s family.

Sandra Stephen testified today during an ongoing pretrial hearing in Superior Court in Morristown in which the prosecution is seeking to admit Parvaiz’s “prior bad acts” as evidence in his trial.

A detective for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office testified previously in the hearing that a search of Parvaiz’s e-mails revealed he had contacted four black magic companies in 2009 and 2010 to see if they could cast a spell to make his wife disappear or die accidentally.

Sandra Stephen said she had known Parvaiz since 2009, describing him as a “friend” of Antionette’s who also became her friend.

Parvaiz, who had an apartment in Boston, about 20 miles away, frequently visited the Stephens’ home in Billerica, had dinner with the sisters and their parents and even worked with Antionette Stephen to “finish” her parents’ attic at the house, Sandra Stephen said.

Parvaiz told the family “he was divorced and was fighting for custody of the two children,” Sandra Stephen testified. “He was fed up with his lifestyle and he wanted out.”

Parvaiz described his wife as “an extremely mean person” who was “always looking for money,” Stephen testified. He also said she was “a bad mother” who refused to take one of their sons to doctor’s appointments to treat his sickle-cell anemia, Stephen said.

Parvaiz said he frequently had to drive from Boston to New York so his son could see his doctors, she testified.

Parvaiz’s attorney, John Latoracca, asked Stephen why Parvaiz would take a trip to Pakistan with his wife if they were already divorced.

“It was not my place to ask,” Sandra Stephen replied. “I gave no thought to that.”

“Now everything is in perspective,” she added. “Back then, I did not question why the wife, or ex-wife, was living with his parents” in Brooklyn.

Sandra Stephen said she never met Noorani, but she did meet the couple’s two young sons when they came to Massachusetts in July 2011 to join in the celebration of her graduation from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

The hearing is expected to continue on Wednesday afternoon with testimony from another woman that Parvaiz knew in Massachusetts. Antionette Stephen is expected to testify in the hearing next week.